


We're All Mad Here

by Eff_Dragonkiller



Series: Impossible Things [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: 2021 Shadowhunters (TV) Rewatch, Alternate Universe, BAMF Magnus Bane, Canon-Typical Violence, Discord: Malec Server, Fraywood Brotp, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Murder & Discussion of, Shadowhunter Culture & Customs, Werewolf Culture & Customs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:00:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29089428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eff_Dragonkiller/pseuds/Eff_Dragonkiller
Summary: It started with a mundane outside the Institute and ended up with a new Alpha for the New York City pack and the promise of a date with a very magical High Warlock.Alec couldn't say his day went poorly, at all.
Relationships: Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray & Luke Garroway, Clary Fray & Simon Lewis, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Impossible Things [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2098536
Comments: 24
Kudos: 172





	We're All Mad Here

**Author's Note:**

> All the love to my bouncing buddies, _Lyss_ and _Kai_. 
> 
> And lots of love to the #runaway-prompts channel on the Malec Discord Server as it continues to feed my desire for worldbuilding.
> 
> Happy reading!

"This isn't a safe house, Luke!" Simon shouted a little frantically, Clary could hear the panic in his voice even from around the corner. "This is- this is a meth house! You said she was safe! I trusted you!"

"Simon, she is safe." Luke tried to corral Simon off the sidewalk, but her friend wasn't having it. "Clary is fine."

"She can't be!" Simon's voice had gone a little shrill, "Not if she's here!"

"Simon," Luke reached out and physically grabbed him by the shoulders, "how do you know that?"

"Her GPS is still on."

Clary winced as Alec groaned with his entire body as he walked next to her. Yeah, she was going to hear about that one again. Part of her might have been upset, but she understood on a logical level the security risk that not turning her gps off posed. It was one way Ella checked up on her list of sketchy people, after all.

Clary was fumbling to turn it off even as they walked.

"Can you-?"

"Give it to me." Alec grabbed the device and fixed the issue in practically an instant. Just swipe-swipe-swipe and it was fixed. "Don't let me find out you turned it back on."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Gonna have to do better than sorry, Clary." Alec said as they closed the last few steps to Luke and Simon. "Or you'll be dead."

"Why? 'Cause you'll kill her?" Simon scowled, only held back by Luke's hands on his shoulders. "Well, listen up Meth-head, Clary is amazing and if you want to hurt her, you have to go through me!"

"Oh, Simon!" Clary hurried to throw her arms around her best friend. "I missed you!"

"Clary!" Up close Clary could see how nervous Simon was, sweat gathered on his brow and his eyes a little too wide in panic. "Are you okay? What are you doing here?"

"I'm okay, Simon." Clary said, reaching out and bringing his head down to hers. Not a kiss, but the sharing of breath maybe even more intimate. "Alec is taking care of me."

"I can take care of you," Simon's breath hitched as he pulled away from her hands. "You don't need this guy. He's got nothing I don't."

"Charming sentiment," Alec's tone was drier than the desert and Clary couldn't help but wince. It'd only been a few days, but she already knew exactly how much Alec would outclass Simon in a fight. "Can we move this off the street?"

"There's a 24hr dinner a couple blocks down." Luke said, "Owners in the know."

"Great, let's go there."

Alec took the rear guard while Luke led the way, and Clary shushed Simon when he looked like he wanted to shout again. There was so much her friend didn't know. So much she wasn't sure how to explain to him.

Simon had been there for every large milestone in her life from the first day of kindergarten to senior graduation. Clary had never hesitated to share the important parts of her life with him. The difference of a day or two shouldn't be enough to change their entire relationship, but it was.

How could Simon understand her now when so much of Clary's new life couldn't be shared with him? Simon was a mundane and safe so long as he stayed that way. Which meant that Clary couldn't share how painful it'd been to be branded with her first rune, but the rush of something unlocking inside of her.

She couldn't share how awestruck she'd been when Isaiah had placed the first adamas blade in her hand. Something in her heart giving an extra thump at the name of the Angel. She couldn't share how there was something about being in the Institute that felt safe in a way she hadn't ever understood she'd never had.

Clary couldn't share it, and Simon would never understand.

"Here we go," Luke finally said, veering off toward the door of a diner that opened onto the ally instead of the street. "This will be safe if anything gets... out of hand."

"Gets out of hand?" Simon scowled, "Like if tall, dark, and nasty were to off me?"

"Simon!" Clary groaned, pushing him to the interior seat on Luke's side and taking the one across from him. "No one's going to kill you."

"I am a member of the Police Force," Luke said with a grin.

"But yeah," the waitress said as she turned up with menus. "If you end up dead, no one here will remember you even existed." She put her pen to her pad, "Drinks?"

"Four waters, I think." Luke said, "And I'll take the Werewolf's delight."

"Raw or rare?"

"Rare."

In his corner Simon sent her the most befuddled look, repeating 'raw or rare' to himself without the context to understand. Clary bit her lip to stifle a laugh. Simon’s confusion wasn’t wrong; she’d called Luke in the middle of the night when the ball had dropped for her.

"The uh, pancakes?"

"Chocolate chip or plain?"

"Chocolate chip." Simon grinned, he was never one to turn down chocolate chip pancakes. "They're my favorite."

"I'd like the Reuben, please." Clary smiled. She didn't know where this was going, but the three men she trusted most all in one place, mostly getting along, is a win in her book.

"And for you?" The waitress asked Alec, her tone sharp.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Alec's tone was carefully neutral in return.

"You look like a man in desperate need of a burger." Someone said coming up from behind their waitress. "Well done?"

"More like medium rare," Alec said, checking the options. "Bacon cheeseburger, please."

It was all he could get out, because lifting his eyes from the menu, his breath stuck in his throat and his heart turned over in his chest.

 _There you are._ Something inside him resonated. _I've been looking for you, forever._

"And an avocado club on rye, for me, Maia." The stranger said as he borrowed a chair from the other table. His smile glowed with good cheer, and magic crackled at the edges of Alec's perception. It took an enormous effort to drag his attention away.

"Uh huh," Maia said skeptically, "I'll just get that right in."

"We have a brownie working the kitchen," the man said as he turned back to the table. "So it shouldn't take long at all."

"It's been awhile, Magnus." Luke nodded, "how are things?"

"Better, now that I know this isn't some random invasion of Shadowhunters. We've not been formally introduced, pretty boy." Bane said, offering his hand and laying a kiss on the back Alec's. The Shadowhunter stubbornly ignored Clary's quiet giggles and the heat he could feel on his cheeks. "I'm Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn."

Clary's mundane friend sputtered in the background, but Alec was struggling to even drag his eyes away from the powerful warlock, let alone his hand—no one had ever touched him with quite that intent before—Alec didn't have the attention to spare for Clary's mundane.

"Uh, Alec. Lightwood." He finally dragged away both his hands and his eyes—ignoring the soft sad whine Magnus made on the exhale—to stare at Luke's highly amused expression. "Acting Head of the New York Institute."

"What sent all of you to this corner of the city, hmm?"

"Besides the food?" Luke smiled as Maia dropped their drinks off.

Magnus nodded in agreement, "Besides the food."

"Luke said this place was safe." Alec shrugged as reached for the ketchup. "Clary's friend was making a scene in front of the Institute."

"And you didn't just make him forget?"

Both leaders stared at the protesting boy at the other end of the table before they shared a look.

"It's still an option." Alec admitted.

"Hey now," Clary jabbed an elbow into his side. "No messing with my friend's mind. That's rude."

"And creepy," her friend tagged on.

"I mean, we could always make you disappear." Alec offered with a sharp smile, "Keeping the Shadow World hidden from mundanes is one the very first laws. I would just be doing my job."

Clary scoffed, "You're not going to kill Simon."

"Who said we needed to kill him?" Magnus buffed his nails. "It's been awhile since I've turned anyone into a toad." He turned a lethally earnest expression on Alec, "I'm sure it's like riding a bike."

Alec was helpless to do anything but nod, "Once you learn you never forget."

“Exactly!" Magnus snapped and sparkles rained down on them.

The mundane did not look reassured. He squeaked, "Clary."

"Alec," Clary took a deep breath. "You didn't take us all the way here only to kill Simon, anyway. What do you need from him?"

"I still don't even know what's going on!" The mundane tugged at his hair.

Clary turned to her friend, "All the legends are real."

"Who gave you the intro?" Alec snorted, "That was awful Fray."

"Then I dare you to do better." The smug smirk on her face showed just how well she thought she'd played him.

"Oh, good move Fray." The warlock grinned.

"You shouldn't be encouraging her." Alec groaned. "If we tell the mundane then he knows. If he knows then I have to do something about it."

"I'm sure we can think of something," Luke offered from the other side of the table. His steak and eggs were nearly demolished. "Surely there are options."

Alec growled, "Not as many as you'd think." 

"If you don't tell him, you will have to kill him or wipe him." Magnus points out.

"Wiping him wouldn't actually solve the problem," Luke said. "Simon's stubborn and all the clues that sent him to the Institute are still there. He'd just show up again."

Clary interrupted before Alec could do more than open his mouth. "You're not killing my friend, Alec."

"That's not a decision you get to make." Alec snapped. "You agreed in front of Imogen Herondale to take on the duties and responsibilities of a Shadowhunter in return for training and protection. That means sometimes you break your own heart, Fray. And it never heals the same again."

The table was quiet after Alec's outburst. The fun cooperative atmosphere was gone. He mourned the connection for a minute, but it wasn't anything new. The burdens of leadership had always created an obstacle for relationships. Only his siblings didn't let it stop them, and he wasn't always certain that was a good thing.

Abruptly the mundane stood, his chair tipping over with a clatter as he spun away from the table to run for the door.

Alec sighed, he hated chasing them down.

"Would you like me to stop him?" Magnus offered, blue magic sparking at his fingertips.

Reaching for his wallet, Alec shook his head. "It won't be hard to-"

"Garroway!" A thug slammed the door to the diner open with a clash. Even from across the room, Alec could see how tightly the man's hand dug into Simon's shoulder. "This rat smells like you!"

"Alpha," Luke stood and nodded just enough to be polite to the werewolf leader. "Simon is a friend."

"Young for you, don't ya think?" The Alpha sneered as his lieutenants spread out behind him, chuckling as they cleared the room.

Luke said nothing, just shifted his feet to widen his stance.

"Oh, this will not go well." Magnus muttered beside him. "Quick, give me your phone!"

Alec was already handing the device over before he could fully consider that it might not have been the best choice. "Why?"

"It's all over the downworld that Valentine is looking for Clary Fray, that she might have the Mortal Cup." The warlock shook his head, "It's how I found you, I just didn't want to say anything in public."

Alec grabbed the other man's arm, firm but not tight enough to bruise. "Why would you-"

"Valentine is offering concessions," Magnus said with a snap. "But only a fool would believe it. I needed to know she was safe."

"She's as safe as I can make her." Alec shrugged, his eye on the werewolves engaged in their staring contest. "Which obviously isn't perfect."

Magnus snorted, patted him on the chest and handed Alec his phone back. "Nothing ever is. Now, this is going to get ugly fast. Lucian will not let Theo just take Clary or turn the mundane. There's going to be a fight, which means he's going to need some magic from me, but I don't have all the ingredients."

Magnus gave a short little tug on his jacket and stood in one smooth move that captivated Alec's eye. "Call me when it's over."

"When what's over?" Clary hissed.

"The fight," Alec said, pulling Clary out of her seat and directing her towards the wall. When one of the Alpha's lieutenants growled at them, Alec snarled right back. Breaking the stalemate between the wolves.

“If you just give us the cup and the girl," the Alpha said, letting go of Simon, "no one needs to get hurt."

"We don't have the cup, Theo." Luke said patiently, "And I'm not giving you my daughter."

Theo snarled, "She's not yours, is she?"

"You know pack is more than blood." Luke scowled.

Theo growled and punched out. Luke stepped in fast, blocking the swing, and the Alpha took an uppercut to the jaw. He stumbled back and Luke gave a low rumbling growl when the two lieutenants tried to step in.

"Luke!" Clary gasped, reaching for her daggers. Alec pinned her to the wall with a hand on her chest.

"You can't help him."

"He's my family! With Mom gone, he's the only family I've got left. I have too!"

"You can't." Alec stared down at the watery blue eyes, making sure his trainee knew exactly how serious he was. "This is a downworld matter, an internal werewolf issue. The Clave would never approve of our involvement."

"They want to kidnap me!"

"And if they tried, we'd stop them." Alec reassured her. "But they didn't, they went after Luke instead. If we help Luke and he wins the fight for leadership of the pack, the other wolves would be in their rights to tear him apart. If we help and Luke loses the fight, he'd be run out of the city and probably still torn apart. This is a fight Luke has to win on his own."

"I don't like it."

Alec snorted, "tough luck."

Alec bit back a smirk as Theo swung a chair at Luke with a crack, the weak mass produced wood practically shattering against Luke's upraised arm. That wasn't a smart move.

Luke grabbed at the wood and reeled his Alpha with a stumble. The man let the remnants drop, but now Luke was in his space again and the man had nowhere to go. Step up into Luke's hit or back into his wolves like a coward. 

With Theo's arms raised expecting a punch, Luke went low and swept his feet out from under him. Luke stomped down with his heel, but the alpha rolled. From the floor on the other side of the diner, Theo snarled and shifted. 

The sound of popping muscles and cracking bones was gross, even to Alec, who was well used to the disgusting sounds of demons and their thralls. Clary whined a little at the sight, and he could hear Simon gag. 

The thing about shifting was it took time. Time that, as a Shadowhunter, Alec was trained to take advantage of. Time Luke had been trained to take advantage of as well. Theo didn't give Luke the time to move. In the seconds Luke used to shift forward, Theo was already on four feet. Running at him, snarl ripping from his throat.

The momentum of a couple hundred pounds of wolf flinging itself at Luke sent the man to floor with a boom, blood splattering as the Alpha ravaged the arm that blocked his goal. The Alpha wanted this over and he'd gone straight for Luke's throat. 

Alec breathed deeply, releasing the tension in his shoulders. Consciously tucking his hands into his pockets, away from his knives. The fight wasn't over yet. There was still a chance to get out of this without having to report to the Clave. 

Luke managed to get a foot braced against the Alpha and propel the wolf into the chair legs of a nearby table. It lost him a fair bit of flesh from his arm and he was bleeding pretty heavily, but Luke didn't pay it any attention. He just shifted. 

Theo didn't wait. Claws scrambled against the laminate flooring as he got his feet back under him, snarling as he ran at the smaller wolf. 

Luke ducked. Theo flew over him, hitting the wall with a bone rattling thud. Even as the Alpha struggled to shake it off, Luke was there. His teeth in Theo's throat, tearing through flesh like paper. 

Alec sighed in something like relief. His fingers were already dialing the warlock as the wolves knelt and Luke shifted back. 

"It's over?" 

"Yeah, Luke won. Pretty beat up. His right arm is shredded." 

Luke swayed on his feet. Vulnerability no longer a crime with his betas out the diner door, so Alec released the grasp he'd kept Clary beside him with. She ran so fast to his side that he would have thought she activated a rune. Except Clary didn't carry a stele. Alec didn't quite trust her with one yet. 

"I sent a friend. Portal by the kitchen door. Hurry."

The portal sprung up between the kitchen door and the bathroom door, and a woman in yellow scrubs walked out with a scowl.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day!"

Alec didn't even have time to take in the room they ended up in before the woman was grabbing his arm. "Do you know first aid?" 

"No." 

"I do," Clary jumped for it as they settled Luke on the low gurney. "Simon and I both took courses." 

"Magnus needs help," She said, shoving Alec in the direction of the manic warlock and the bubbling cauldron. 

Behind him, Alec could hear Clary and her friend receive directions about monitoring Luke's blood pressure and what to do if his heart stops.

"You need help?" 

"The bite of an Alpha werewolf is venomous." Magnus said, scowling into the potion. "Usually nature gets its way and either the wolf lives or it dies. But we have magic. And I've been around the block enough times to have a few tricks up my sleeve. This potion typically takes a full month to prepare, but we can cut that time drastically with more power." 

"What do you need from me?" 

"Strength." Magnus said with a frown, sticking his non-dominant hand wiggling fingers with sparkly blue polish. "I know it's not-"

Alec didn't care if it wasn't done. It might leave him vulnerable to the Warlock's magic. But the same could be said for Magnus. For nephilim and downworlders alike, their soul resided in their power, grace or magic; sharing strength was like letting someone peer into the most intimate parts of themselves and trusting they wouldn't use what they'd seen against each other. 

Taking the jewel-bedecked hand in a firm grasp, Alec loosened the barriers that kept his grace tucked beneath his skin. He could be brave. He would be brave. 

The Nephilim scriptures described hell as being forsaken by the Angel, name forgotten and struck from the rolls of the devout, so shamed even the hair of the corpse was shorn to show it. Hell was cold. It was isolation from the grace of the flock. It was the certainty that backup wasn't coming and support wasn't offered. 

If Alec had given it any thought, he'd have assumed a warlock's magic, being born from the hell dimensions, would be like frost painting flesh. The chill of death passing by. 

Magnus's was warm. 

Warm, like a hug after a nightmare. Warm, like the gentle heat of a fire during a snowstorm. Warm, like the kiss of sunshine on an upturned face. It was just warm. Like a wave, the sensation rolled over Alec and pulled him under. There was nothing left but the gentle wash of power from one side of the connection to the other. 

This didn't feel like a stranger. This wasn't a flimsy connection made for a short-term goal. Rather, it felt to Alec that the connection belonged there. It felt right. 

With the beep of an alarm, Alec crested through the fog of the connection with a gasp. Staring wide-eyed at Magnus, the warlock staring just as wide-eyed back. The tide of power still washing over both of them. 

"Magnus! The potion!" 

Letting go was one of the hardest things Alec had ever done. As he stood out of the way and watched the warlocks administer the potion, all Alec could feel was the loss of something important. It had been breathtaking. 

"I want to apologize," Magnus said later, after Luke had been installed in a guest room and Magnus's friend Catarina had helpfully agreed to drop Clary and Simon off at the Institute. "For what happened when we shared strength." 

"Did you do it on purpose?" Alec asked, leaning back against the balcony doors, taking the glass of wine offered, frowning lightly at the taste. 

"What? No, of course not." Magnus scowled, "How could you think-"

"Relax, Magnus." Alec smiled as he set the glass down. "I didn't think you did."

"Do you not like the wine?" Magnus frowned, "I take my hospitality seriously. I can get you something else?"

"I- hmm," Alec bit his lip and looked over at the warlock—the hundreds of years old warlock—and couldn't help but groan. "You're going to think I'm an infant, but I don't really drink without watering it down."

Magnus chuckled, snapping up a fresh glass. "That's old school."

"It's how we still do it. Lake Lyn is pretty toxic, and it seeps into the groundwater." Alec shrugged, taking the glass and sipping. Ah, much better. "Watered wine and beer are staple drinks in Idris. My parents had it imported from Alicante. I don't think I actually tasted mundane soda until I was on my first hunt." 

"And when was that?" Magnus asked, leaning a little closer. "They start you Shadowhunters young on that, don't they?" 

Alec hummed in agreement, "I think I was ten. Younger than normal but not by much." 

Magnus cackled, "Drinking wine that young would have the mundanes cracking down on your parents like a whip." 

"I doubt that's our worst offense." 

For a moment, as Alec enjoyed the evening lights of the city with Magnus pressed up against him, he considered if this was what it was like to have a partner. Not someone he had to train or look out for, not someone he had to obey. Just a friend to exist with. 

He swallowed the last of the wine. "What do we owe you for healing, Luke?" 

"Nothing," Magnus said as he turned to face the Shadowhunter. "My service to Luke was just that, a service to Luke. A debt between downworlders. You and your trainee were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." 

Fair enough. Alec certainly would not cry over a complication he didn't need. "And Simon? How do you see him?" 

"He came in with Luke, didn't he?" Magnus arched an eyebrow. 

"Werewolf packs do include human members." 

"Better to keep the secret when a family member is bit." 

So instead of reporting to the Clave that there was a mundane in the know, Simon was a 'prospective member of Alpha Garroway's pack'. Excellent. 

"Anything else," Magnus asked, "or can I get you another glass?" 

"I have one more item of business." Alec said, turning toward the warlock, "My trainee, Clary Fray, appears to be missing some memories. I hoped the Institute could hire your services to retrieve them." 

"Well, I have good news and bad news." Magnus said, taking a large swallow of his glass. "I was the one who removed Clary's memories at her mother's request." The warlock swirled the wine and avoided Alec's gaze as he spoke. "Jocelyn was just so convinced that binding her daughter's power and removing her memories was what would keep her safe. I was worried that-" He sighed. 

"You were worried that Jocelyn would go to another, less skilled, warlock if you turned her away." 

"Yes." 

Alec considered the information. That Magnus knew who Jocelyn was went without saying. Jocelyn had been the wife of Valentine Morgenstern for many years before she escaped him. Magnus Bane was practically downworlder royalty, for all that you wouldn't know it if you were just watching. He would have known exactly who both Jocelyn and Luke were when they showed up on his doorstep. 

"Do you have the memories?" 

"I fed them to a memory demon." 

"Hence the 'bad news' portion." Alec sighed. "Can we get them back?" 

Magnus nodded, "We can try. The ritual will need five people, including Clary and I. I would prefer if you were one of the other three, but I understand if you'd rather not now." 

"Hey," Alec reached out on instinct and curved his arm around the warlock's shoulders. "I've seen what's inside of you, Magnus, and it's beautiful. I would be happy to share my strength with you again."

Magnus leaned into Alec's space. His eyes, a little unfocused, looking beyond the flesh and blood to see something only magic could discern. "I've felt the grace of hundreds of nephilim over the years. Admittedly, often on the other side of the battlefield, but I sat at the Accords too and I remember the pain of that power stabbing at mine. Never have I felt anything so good as when I shared strength with you." 

Alec leaned a little closer, "I was so powerful, Magnus. Breathtaking. I-" 

His phone interrupted him and pressed his forehead against the warlock's with a sigh before checking the message. It was Izzy wanting to know where he was.

 _Angel save him from his siblings._

"Duty calling, Shadowhunter?" Magnus offered, eyes a little sad as he stepped back to put more distance between them. "I'll need to check my calendar, but I should have an opening in a week for the ritual." 

"Sounds good." He hesitated to leave. He really should get back to the Institute. 

"It was a good evening." Magnus said, a plastic smile on his lips. "We should do it again." 

"What? Watch over not-quite-dead bodies and talk work?" Alec reached out. He wasn't sure where to touch. He wanted everywhere; he settled for the warlock's shoulder. "I'm not sure I can offer you much. I work long hours with a crazy leadership team and if Valentine's back we might as well be going to war. And I don't know what I can promise you. I'm not- my team-," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I've never told anyone I like men. Never dated. Not even a one-night stand." 

He opened them on the warlock's startled features. "The Clave wouldn't approve, ever. It might be easy to say that the Clave doesn't matter but- it's all I know. All I am, is a Shadowhunter." 

"What are you saying, Alec?" 

"Coffee. I have to go now." Alec gave an abrupt nod. "But we should do coffee sometime."

The small but genuine smile that creased Magnus's lips made his face come alive, and Alec thought he'd never seen anything so beautiful. 

"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot." 


End file.
